since we have been justified
The phrase "since we have been justified" refers to a completed action with ongoing results. The Greek word for "justified" is "δικαιωθέντες" (dikaiothentes), which is a legal term meaning to be declared righteous. This justification is not based on human merit but is a gift of grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Historically, this concept was revolutionary, as it shifted the focus from adherence to the Law to faith in Christ as the means of obtaining righteousness.

by faith
"By faith" emphasizes the means through which justification is received. The Greek term "πίστει" (pistei) underscores trust and reliance on God rather than on one's own works. This faith is not merely intellectual assent but a deep-seated trust in the person and work of Jesus Christ. The Reformation, particularly through figures like Martin Luther, highlighted this phrase as central to the doctrine of sola fide, or faith alone, as the means of salvation.

we have peace with God
The phrase "we have peace with God" speaks to the result of justification. The Greek word for peace, "εἰρήνην" (eirēnēn), conveys a sense of wholeness and reconciliation. This peace is not merely the absence of conflict but a restored relationship with God. Historically, this peace contrasts with the enmity described earlier in Romans, where humanity is at odds with God due to sin. Through Christ, believers are brought into a harmonious relationship with their Creator.

through our Lord Jesus Christ
"Through our Lord Jesus Christ" identifies the mediator of this peace and justification. The Greek preposition "διὰ" (dia) indicates the channel through which this reconciliation is achieved. Jesus Christ is central to the Christian faith, and His lordship signifies His authority and divinity. The title "Lord" (Κύριος, Kyrios) was used in the Septuagint to translate the divine name YHWH, underscoring Jesus' divine status. Historically, the early church faced persecution for proclaiming Jesus as Lord, a title that challenged the Roman emperor's claim to ultimate authority. This phrase encapsulates the Christian confession that Jesus is both Savior and Lord, the one through whom believers are justified and reconciled to God.

(1-11) A description of the serene and blissful state which the sense of justification brings. Faith brings justification; justification brings (let us see that it does bring) peace--peace with God, through the mediation of Jesus. To that mediation it is that the Christian owes his state of grace or acceptance in the present, and his triumphant hope of glory in the future. Nay, the triumph begins now. It begins even with tribulation, for tribulation leads by gradual stages to that tried and approved constancy which is a virtue most nearly allied to hope. Such hope does not deceive. It is grounded upon the consciousness of justifying love assured to us by the wonderful sacrifice of the death of Christ. The one great and difficult step was that which reconciled sinful man to God; the completion of the process of his salvation follows by easy sequence. Knowing this our consciousness just spoken of takes a glow of triumph.

(1) Being justified.--The present chapter is thus linked on to the last. Christ was delivered for our offences, and raised again for our justification. "Being justified then," &c. This opening has a wonderful beauty which centres in the Christian idea of peace. After all the gloomy retrospect which fills the preceding chapters, the clouds break, and light steals gently over the scene. Nor is it merely the subsidence of storm, but an ardent and eager hope that now awakens, and looks forward to a glorious future.

We have.--A decided preponderance of MSS. authority compels us to read here, "Let us have," though the older reading would seem to make the best sense. A hortatory element is introduced into the passage, which does not seem quite properly or naturally to belong to it. It is just possible that there may have been a very early error of the copyist, afterwards rightly corrected (in the two oldest MSS., Vat. and Sin., the reading of the Authorised version appears as a correction) by conjecture. On the other hand, it is too much always to assume that a writer really used the expression which it seems to us most natural that he should have used. "Let us have" would mean "Let us enter into and possess."

Peace.--The state of reconciliation with God, with all that blissful sense of composure and harmony which flows from such a condition. "Peace" is the special legacy bequeathed by Jesus to His disciples (John 14:27; John 16:33); it is also the word used, with deep significance, after miracles of healing, attended with forgiveness (Mark 5:34; Luke 7:50). Boswell notes a remark of Johnson's upon this word. "He repeated to Mr. Langton, with great energy in the Greek, our Saviour's gracious expression concerning the forgiveness of Mary Magdalene: 'Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace' (Luke 7:50). He said, 'The manner of this dismission is exceedingly affecting'" (Life of Johnson, ch. 4, under the date 1780). For other illustrations of this supreme and unique phase of the Christian life, we may turn to the hymns of Cowper, especially those stanzas commencing "Sometimes a light surprises," "So shall my walk be close with God," "Fierce passions discompose the mind," "There if Thy Spirit touch the soul"; or to some of the descriptions in the Pilgrim's Progress. . . .

(a) the consciousness and hopes of believers;

(b) the position of mankind before God. Verses 1-11. - (a) As to the consciousness of individual believers. Verse 1. - Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Instead of the ἔχομεν of the Textus Receptus, an overwhelming preponderance of authority, including uncials, versions, and Fathers, supports ἔχωμεν ("let us have"). If this be the true reading, the expression must be intended as hortatory, meaning, apparently, "Let us appreciate and realize our peace with God which we have in being justified by faith." But hortation here does not appear in keeping with what follows, in which the results of our being justified by faith are described in terms clearly, corresponding with the idea of our having peace with God. The passage as a whole is not hortatory, but descriptive, and "we have peace" comes in naturally as an initiatory statement of what is afterwards carried out. This being the case, it is a question whether an exception may not be allowed in this case to the usually sound rule of bowing to decided preponderance of authority with respect to readings. That ἔχωμεν was an early and widely accepted reading there can be no doubt; but still it may not have been the original one, the other appearing more probable. Scrivener is of opinion that "the itacism of ω for ο, so familiar to all collators of Greek manuscripts, crept into some very early copy, from which it was propagated among our most venerable codices, even those from which the earliest versions were made."

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